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Sulla-Marius 88 posted:Unfortunately we're going into winter here, not summer, and we're in an apartment block so there's nowhere to plant. I was hoping that I could build a shelf along that windowsill and place all our plants on it, but if even that is getting insufficient light, we'll just have to deal with buying some full-grown ferns and whatever else to brighten the place up.  In that case, zucchini probably isn't that suited to be a houseplant. If you are looking for something edible, you could try Red Robin tomatoes. They grow in little pots and tolerate low light conditions. Or herbs, maybe basil or chives.
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Apr 12, 2012 03:17
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Looks like my red/green peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, and cucumber might be done for after the past few nights where it's gotten below freezing. I got them covered last night but I don't think it helped any thing. Any suggestions on trying to save them so should I just scrap them and start over?
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Apr 12, 2012 17:21
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fallin1 posted:Looks like my red/green peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, and cucumber might be done for after the past few nights where it's gotten below freezing. I got them covered last night but I don't think it helped any thing. Any suggestions on trying to save them so should I just scrap them and start over? If they got frost then it's all over. Freezing causes the cells to burst inside the plant and it's immediate death. Would you survive all your cells freezing and exploding inside you? Mine have also fallen to frost. I think I'm just going to restart with a container garden instead of in the ground and just plant sunflowers and wildflowers in my big 5x10 plot. Plus I don't like the amount of sunlight it gets as I don't think it's enough. I was considering grow bags instead of plastic pots. Anyone have trouble with those? The price is way cheaper than plastic pots. cheese eats mouse fucked around with this message at 17:41 on Apr 12, 2012 |
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Apr 12, 2012 17:35
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Start over. They're going to do better than the stressed plants would if they even survived at all. If you had a frost then it's probably still a little early to be putting those heat-lovers outside. They might be OK in a cold frame though.
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Apr 12, 2012 17:38
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cheese eats mouse posted:I was considering grow bags instead of plastic pots. Anyone have trouble with those? The price is way cheaper than plastic pots. Landscaping companies will sometimes sell extra plastic pots for super, super cheap. Might be worth calling around.
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Apr 12, 2012 22:47
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OK, so here's a few things I need advice on. First, here's my property line in the backyard next to a cotton field: I've got dewberries growing in a line along a little stretch. There's a bunch of old, dead vines underneath the still-bearing vines that I'm going to clear out as soon as we get all the fruit. I'd like to put up some kind of trellis to make picking and maintaining them easier.  This is a roughly 50 foot stretch that was already dead and dried out; I mowed it down, hosed the dirt and dug it up to let the vines come back. I've got a few different ideas to try here first. I had thought about some six foot tall posts with guy wires coming down to stakes like this:  I had also considered a T-trellis about 3-4 foot high, although that wouldn't look as nice. I could also run some chain-link or chicken wire, but I don't want to totally close us off from the field (I like to throw the frisbee to the dog out there). Any other ideas or advice would be welcome. Here's another issue:  This is more of a question for next year (I probably won't be growing tomatoes in the fall), but would it be a better idea to keep a bamboo stake out the bottom of the planters and keep the tomato plant tied down further to keep them from tangling up so badly? In other words, to force it to grow straight down before it starts curling up? Last question:  I'd like to put some kind of climber or ivy on the back of this section of fence; I love honeysuckle and we've got tons of it growing wild in the area, but I don't know how well it will climb a wooden fence. Will it stick at all?
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Apr 13, 2012 02:46
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GD_American posted:OK, so here's a few things I need advice on. First, here's my property line in the backyard next to a cotton field: I've got to warn you, be careful about eating those dewberries after they start spraying the cotton. Probably they will ripen before the cotton has grown enough for spraying, but cotton pesticides are powerful, dangerous stuff. GD_American posted:I'd like to put some kind of climber or ivy on the back of this section of fence; I love honeysuckle and we've got tons of it growing wild in the area, but I don't know how well it will climb a wooden fence. Will it stick at all? No, honeysuckle isn't a good climber. It needs to hook over string or a trellis.
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Apr 13, 2012 03:11
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Costello Jello posted:I've got to warn you, be careful about eating those dewberries after they start spraying the cotton. Probably they will ripen before the cotton has grown enough for spraying, but cotton pesticides are powerful, dangerous stuff. We're good; we're picking right now, and they haven't even seeded yet (think it's peanuts this time anyway). They just disced it up a few weeks ago. You're right, it is something to consider. quote:No, honeysuckle isn't a good climber. It needs to hook over string or a trellis. Well, poo poo. Anything to recommend?
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Apr 13, 2012 03:16
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cheese eats mouse posted:If they got frost then it's all over. Freezing causes the cells to burst inside the plant and it's immediate death. Would you survive all your cells freezing and exploding inside you? That's what I was afraid of. Looks like I'll just wait til May to start.
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Apr 13, 2012 03:52
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GD_American posted:Here's another issue:
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Apr 13, 2012 14:38
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I wasn't planning on growing any tomatoes this year. Then I went to a class yesterday about growing tomatoes, and last night I started 7 different kinds from seed even though it's probably about a month late.
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Apr 13, 2012 16:32
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coyo7e posted:For the amount of land you have, why are your tomatoes in these upside-down pots? They prefer a lot more space for their root systems, and those upside down things dry out super fast.. They're made for people who want to grow on their apartment patio, etc. I wanted to try them, as my folks had great success with them. I've got a slew of tomatoes also planted on the side of my house, which was a giant mistake; I haven't guttered my house yet and the drip-line absolutely pummeled them. It got better when I mulched the bed with some Softscape and moved a few plants, but it's still not ideal. Next year that area will be guttered, but I'm going to turn that into my herb garden and just rip up another section of lawn to make a garden. I'm gonna stick with the upside-down pots. They grew tremendously fast (the tomatoes, anyway- the Ichiban eggplant has been kind of meh) and my girls love them.
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Apr 13, 2012 20:59
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I mentioned gita pole beans above. Today I harvested 40 of the beans and subsequently froze them using the wash, cut, steam, rinse, bag, freeze method.  There's still tons of small beans and flowers on the vines. All this from an 8 foot row of beans. Such a great variety 
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Apr 14, 2012 03:17
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Has anyone ever used this product before? I'm trying one because, well, it's seven bucks, so why the hell not. But, when I added warm water to the pellets, all they did was get a little bigger (like maybe doubled in length), rather than filling out their pots with the abundant plenitude of potting medium shown on the cover picture. I've had them sitting in water for hours now, and ... nothing. Did I do something wrong, or am I just another victim of Burpee's relentless marketing dreadnought? Also, those are awesome loving beans. I think I have to try growing some of those.
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Apr 14, 2012 21:17
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Peristalsis posted:Did I do something wrong, or am I just another victim of Burpee's relentless marketing dreadnought? This video shows them hulking out in a most disturbingly quick fashion. Maybe you got a dud package.
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Apr 15, 2012 04:13
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Well aside from this Wednesday and Thursday, daily predicted lows now seem to be above 4C. Last frost is April 29 but I took the plunge this weekend since I need space to start my annuals. I spent the afternoon with my pitch-fork turning over, breaking up and mixing the compacted clay soil. Then transplanted my ~16 broccoli ~16 leeks, ~16 peas, ~8 spinach and ~8 lettuce. I used the remaining plot space to sow carrot and radish seeds. I had some vine tomatoes started indoors but they were mashing up against the top of my rack (over two feet tall). It's about a week early but I transplanted them to larger pots outside. I'll have to bring them in to the basement on Wednesday and Thursday when temperatures at night drop < 4C. I still have 20 dwarf tomatoes flowering and setting fruit inside under the lights. 4 other vine tomatoes that I started a bit later but still have another half foot of vertical space before they need to go outside. I've got 13 peppers flowering now inside and another 16 growing happily in a tray. I've learned that tomatoes will become root-bound in the same size containers a lot faster than peppers. My peppers are reasonably happy at over a foot tall and flowering in beverage cups. Whereas dwarf tomatoes need a yoghurt container at the same stage. I finally managed to get some rosemary to germinate (they don't like too much moisture, have to let it dry out somewhat and not use soiless starter mix. We harvested my basil last weekend and made a basil/mozza/goat cheese pizza which was good. The basil is recovering from the haircut and hopefully it will be bushier now. My parsley is doing very well, same as the thyme and oregano all under indoor lights. My sage came back from last year outside so hooray. The tulips are now flowering, lillies are growing well and hostas are shooting up. My rhubarb is growing but is caged under a milk crate to keep the rear end in a top hat squirrels away from them. Raspberries are filling out with leaves and the strawberries are bulking up. Unfortunately we're moving mid-June so it's going to get retarded trying to move plants. I'm thinking about putting most of my peppers and tomatoes in to grocery store green bins (they are ~30L containers and at $5 each, way cheaper than any equivalent planter) so that I can easily move them to the new house. Apartment smells like tomato plants.
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Apr 15, 2012 04:51
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cowofwar, that sounds amazing! Too bad on the upcoming move though. I hope your new place has a nice big yard for you How do you harvest your basil? Do you just strip leaves or cut it too?
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Apr 15, 2012 18:40
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I always bury my tomato plants quite deep (I will pinch off the lower branches and bury it way up past the cotyledon) after each transplant. Anyone know if you can do this for pepper plants as well? I'm reading conflicting stories on the net. Also can I bury zucchini plants up to the cotyledon? I've got some that are a tad leggier than I'd want. I guess it doesn't really matter since I can trellis them but it would be nice to know. Socratic Moron posted:cowofwar, that sounds amazing! Too bad on the upcoming move though. I hope your new place has a nice big yard for you Also dahlias, cosmos, tithonias and dwarf sunflowers sown under my lights. Hopefully in a week they germinate.
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Apr 15, 2012 19:22
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We built a thing today.  We're gonna build a smaller one on the left of this one in the other corner, but we need to either buy some wood or saw down more of the leftovers we have. Do we need more dirt in the big one, how high should it be once it's evened out? These pictures also show off the sun a bit better, so what should go here and where? As a reminder we have seeds for beans, lettuce, squash, pumpkin, carrots, turnips, and watermelon.
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Apr 15, 2012 20:03
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I have access to a LOT of commercially grown flowers(Roses, Lilies, Carnations ect.) Are they good for composting? I have no way of finding out what was used to grow them but I will assume they are not organically grown. When they get to they flower shop they are put into water with either Chrysal #2 Chrysal #3 Would this make for good or bad compost?
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Apr 15, 2012 21:15
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KariOhki posted:We built a thing today. The dirt will settle a fair bit so you could just fill it to the top and expect it to settle by about half over time.
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Apr 15, 2012 22:11
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cowofwar posted:Did you break up the ground underneath? If not, the carrots wont like it. Squash also need a pretty deep root base. Beans or lettuce would probably work best. Yeah, we broke the ground up about 4-6 inches below where we piled the dirt in at most spots. There's some stubborn roots under there, but we clipped or pulled the biggest ones out of the way. We've got some trellis things that we can put up for the beans to climb up on along the back wall, I suppose. Lettuce could go in the front. Any tips for keeping critters away, also? Last year we had this happen to the lettuce: 
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Apr 15, 2012 22:13
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KariOhki posted:Any tips for keeping critters away, also? Last year we had this happen to the lettuce: Secure fencing is the only reliable way to keep most stuff out. Spinach might be a good match for that partly shaded area too.
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Apr 15, 2012 22:52
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KariOhki posted:Any tips for keeping critters away, also? Last year we had this happen to the lettuce: 
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Apr 16, 2012 00:37
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kid sinister posted:
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Apr 16, 2012 02:09
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Milk crates are great for protection, heavy, cheap, ubiquitous and lets in light.
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Apr 16, 2012 02:43
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cheese eats mouse posted:1 tablespoon oil 1 onion, finely sliced (I had to use red) 40 g pancetta, roughly chopped 2 garlic cloves, crushed 1/2 cup white wine 1 cup chicken stock 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard 1 teaspoon dried thyme 1 bay leaf 1/3 cup chopped parsley 2 tablespoons light sour cream Directions: Heat the oil in a large, heavy lidded pan and add the rabbit, turning to seal on all sides. Remove to a plate. Add the onion and pancetta and cook for a couple of minutes until the onion is softened, add the garlic and cook a minute or so more. Add the wine, stock, mustard thyme and bay leaf and stir to combine scraping any brown bits off the bottom. Bring to the boil. Return the rabbit to the pan, bring to the boil, reduce to a simmer and cover. Cook over a low heat for around two hours or until the rabbit is very tender. Remove the rabbit and keep warm. Bring the liquid to a fast boil and cook until it's a sauce consistency. Remove from the heat and whisk in the sour cream and parsley. We served the rabbit and this sauce over mash.
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Apr 16, 2012 03:24
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I had some old potatoes from last year's garden that had 1-2 foot long sprouts. I planted them on St. Patrick's day just for the hell of it, and today I saw 2 potato plants just starting to come up. Nature finds a way  Also, gently caress the guy who built my house and decided to save some money by not laying sod in the back and covering it with whatever fill dirt he could find, and a thin layer of gravel on top. Now it's covered with lovely grass on top of the gravel and it's a total bitch to dig up.
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Apr 16, 2012 22:51
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Cpt.Wacky posted:This video shows them hulking out in a most disturbingly quick fashion. Maybe you got a dud package. Holy crap - mine didn't do anything like that. I just filled in around the pellets with potting mix, and I'll give it a go that way.
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Apr 17, 2012 01:16
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This is a stupid question but how do I know how much to water my plants and how often? I don't want to drown them but I don't want to let them dehydrate and die. Is there a way to TELL?
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Apr 17, 2012 04:14
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Lackadaisical posted:This is a stupid question but how do I know how much to water my plants and how often? I don't want to drown them but I don't want to let them dehydrate and die. Is there a way to TELL? (I don't know. I guesstimate based on the dampness of the soil.)
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Apr 17, 2012 04:37
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Lackadaisical posted:This is a stupid question but how do I know how much to water my plants and how often? I don't want to drown them but I don't want to let them dehydrate and die. Is there a way to TELL? Also, my peppers have outgrown their beverage cups. In to yoghurt containers they go.  Unfortunately I'm like seven short so it looks like I will have to continue scavenging them from the complex's recycling bin. cowofwar fucked around with this message at 04:40 on Apr 17, 2012 |
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Apr 17, 2012 04:38
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Zenzirouj posted:I just grab a hold of them and scream at them until they cough up the information I'm looking for. Don't let those little bastards give you the runaround. TELL ME OR ITS BACK TO THE COMPOST HEAP FOR YOU!
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Apr 17, 2012 06:53
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Goddammit, I focused so much on keeping rabbits out that I forgot about squirrels. Looks like they've dug up a couple of seeds, including two entire garlic bulbs I had tossed in on a whim. Will the fork trick work to keep these assholes out of my garden? Looks like they nibbled a bit on my arugula, too.
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Apr 17, 2012 15:03
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You will never get squirrels out. I'm lucky because my neighbor has a bird feeder that keeps the squirrels away. My mom always used blood meal in her flower garden.
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Apr 17, 2012 15:18
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Liquify some chilies or some cayenne pepper powder dissolved in water and spray every thing down with it. Little bastards can't stand capsaicin and will leave every thing alone. Just make sure you give your vegies a good wash before you eat them.
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Apr 17, 2012 16:23
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any tips for keeping aphids away from lettuce/ bok choy?
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Apr 17, 2012 16:50
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Plus_Infinity posted:any tips for keeping aphids away from lettuce/ bok choy? Lady bugs or over planting is the usual suggestion.
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Apr 17, 2012 17:21
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fallin1 posted:Liquify some chilies or some cayenne pepper powder dissolved in water and spray every thing down with it. Little bastards can't stand capsaicin and will leave every thing alone. Just make sure you give your vegies a good wash before you eat them. Aha, good idea. I had heard of that method for keeping various critters away but forgot about it.
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Apr 17, 2012 18:04
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I just noticed a little bug crawling on one of my cucumber leafs. Can you recommend an all in one insecticide for bell peppers, tomatoes and jalapeņos?
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Apr 17, 2012 18:37
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